The long-awaited comeback is here! Wout van Aert celebrates 'tentative' return in Tour of Norway

Wout van Aert will make his long-awaited comeback in the peloton at the Tour of Norway (May 23-26). Team Visma | Lease a Bike announced this Friday afternoon via a press release. For the 29-year-old Belgian, it will be his first race since his severe crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen.

Van Aert suffered a heavy fall during the Flemish spring classic while descending towards the Kanarieberg, breaking his sternum, collarbone, and several ribs. This immediately ended his spring season and dashed his hopes of participating in the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the two cycling monuments he had prioritized this spring. After weeks of rehabilitation, Van Aert is now making his comeback in Scandinavia.

Van Aert heads to Scandinavia without expectations

“It wasn’t always easy to be sidelined, but luckily, I can now look ahead again,” Van Aert said in the press release from Visma | Lease a Bike. “I’m looking forward to pinning on a race number again. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been able to train more and more, but that’s still different from racing. Therefore, my main goal is to test myself and see how I perform in a race. Without expectations.”

Continue reading below the tweet.

Sports director Merijn Zeeman, who will likely be replaced by Jacco Verhaeren, also keeps the pressure off one of his best riders for the comeback. “It’s great that Wout is back with the team after his severe crash. He starts without any pressure to perform. For him, this is a good moment to test himself again in a race. We don’t yet know what the rest of his race program will look like. We’ll see that in the coming weeks.”

In Norway, Van Aert will be joined by his teammates, including Dutch riders Bart Lemmen, Koen Bouwman, Tijmen Graat, and Menno Huising. Per Strand Hagenes will also be eager to perform well on home soil. For Bouwman, it will also be his first race since withdrawing from the Tour of Romandie. The 30-year-old winner of the Coppi e Bartali general classification had to skip the Giro due to illness.

Selection Visma | Lease a Bike Tour of Norway 2024

Wout van Aert
Bart Lemmen
Koen Bouwman
Tijmen Graat
Menno Huising
Per Strand Hagenes